Down the stretch they come!
With one week left in the regular season, the Indians are right where they want to be in order to get right where they want to be.
“We’re in the hunt. That’s all you can ask for at the end of the year,” said outfielder Michael Brantley.
On Sunday, the Indians took lunch money from the Houston Astros again, routing the visitors 9-2 and completing a four-game sweep of the over-matched Astros, who have lost nine in a row and 105 games.
“We’re grinding now,” said Tribe manager Terry Francona. “This is so exciting. No matter who we play, where we’re playing, or what time. It’s just exciting playing in these games.”
In what seems to have now become a three-team race for two wild-card berths, Tampa Bay and the Indians both won on Sunday. Texas lost. So Tampa Bay (86-69) is in the first wild-card slot. The Indians (86-70) are in the second slot, a half-game behind the Rays. Texas (84-71) is third, 1½ games behind the two leaders.
“We’ve battled so hard to get to this amazing spot,” said tribe first baseman Nick Swisher. “Now we need to finish this thing right.”
The Indians are off today. They will host the White Sox in a two-game series starting Tuesday — the last two home games of the regular season — before finishing the season with four games in Minnesota.
All of the Tribe’s six remaining games are against teams with losing records. That should help because the Indians have the best record in the majors against teams with losing records: 50-18 (.735).
“Every game is the biggest one we have,” said Corey Kluber, who pitched into the sixth inning Sunday to get the win, boosting his record to 10-5.
“(At the start of the season) everybody in here believed we had a good team and that we were capable of this,” said Kluber.
The Indians outscored Houston, 17-5, in the four games, and got the attention of Astros manager Bo Porter.
“I grabbed a couple of our guys after the game and I told them before the series started,” Porter said. “I said, ‘Do you guys see what I’m talking about, the energy and focus that teams who know they’re fighting for their playoff lives have? Did you see how they played these four games?’ That’s where we have to get. They have a really good team.”
Kluber gave up a home run to Chris Carter leading off the second inning. The Astros scored again in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead, but it was all Indians after that.
In the fourth inning against veteran left-hander Erik Bedard (4-12), Jason Kipnis singled and scored on a double by Carlos Santana. One out later, Asdrubal Cabrera drew a walk and one out after that Brantley and Mike Aviles stroked consecutive two-out RBI singles to give the Tribe a 3-2 lead.
The Indians blew it open with a four-run sixth inning that included another RBI single by Brantley and a two-run triple by Bourn.
Brantley this year is hitting .360 with runners in scoring position.
“In those situations I just try to get the run in for my team, and today I was fortunate enough to find some holes,” he said.
The Indians last two runs came on another RBI single by Aviles in the seventh and a solo home run by Santana in the eighth.
Kluber was making his fourth start after spending a month on the disabled list with a sprained right middle finger.
“He’s not in mid-season form with his command, but he still competes. He’s still clawing his way back,” said Francona. “The good news is that when he gets that command we’ll have the guy we had before he got injured.”
At the time he went on the disabled list, Kluber was 7-5 with a 3.54 ERA. In four starts since his return, he is 3-0 with a 4.05 ERA.
“I don’t feel quite as good as I did before I got hurt,” Kluber said. “Physically, I’m fine, but I’m not there yet. It’s just a matter of getting some repetition.”
In 5 1/3 innings, Kluber gave up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk. After removing Kluber from the game, Francona used the blowout to get work for seven of his 15 relief pitchers.
In a combined 3 2/3 scoreless innings, those seven relievers gave up a combined three hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
It was a good day at the office for everyone involved, and in less than a week the Indians hope to be holding an office party.